Biological Psychology PDF

1 BIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY  Outline for Biological Psychology 2 ¨ The mind/body problem ¨ The structure and function of the brain ¨ Neurons ¤ Anatomy of the neuron ¤ How do neurons ‘send’ and ‘receive’ messages?  The Mind/Body Problem 3 ¨ How is your m...

1 BIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY  Outline for Biological Psychology 2 ¨ The mind/body problem ¨ The structure and function of the brain ¨ Neurons ¤ Anatomy of the neuron ¤ How do neurons ‘send’ and ‘receive’ messages?  The Mind/Body Problem 3 ¨ How is your mind (your “internal life”/thoughts/feelings, etc.) related to your brain/body? YOU vs.  Descartes: 4 Mind & Body are Separate  The Mind/Body Problem 5 ¨ What if someone… ¤ Had a heart transplant? ¤ Switched your brain with your mom’s? ¨ Brain injury– “they are not themselves”? ¨ Mind is what the brain does?  Outline for Biological Psychology 6 ¨ The mind/body problem ¨ The structure and function of the brain ¨ Neurons ¤ Anatomy of the neuron ¤ How do neurons ‘send’ and ‘receive’ messages?  Learning Objectives 7 ¨ By the end of this section you should be able to: 1) Identify the structures of the brain and their major functions 2) Develop strategies to learn the associations between different structures and their functions.  3 major regions 8  Hindbrain 9 à motor coordination/control  Hindbrain 10 à Coordinates heart rate, circulation, respiration  Hindbrain 11 à Regulates sleep, wakefulness and arousal  Hindbrain 12 à Relays information from cerebellum to the rest of the brain  Midbrain 13 Ex. Orienting in response to stimuli  Forebrain: Subcortical Structures 14 à Filters and transmits info from senses to the cortex à Regulates 4 F’s  Forebrain: Hypothalamus 15  Forebrain: Subcortical Structures 16 à Role in emotional processes  Forebrain: Subcortical Structures 17 àcritical for creating and integrating new memories  Hippocampus 18  Patient H.M. 19  TYPES OF AMNESIA 20 Retrograde Anterograde  Hippocampus 21  Clive Wearing’s Diary 22  Forebrain: Subcortical Structures 23 à directs intentional movement; plays a role in reward processing  Online Resource 24 ¨ Brainfacts.org à Interactive 3D Brain Model  REVIEW: Parts of the Brain 25  Forebrain: Cerebral Cortex 26  Cerebral Cortex 27 ¨ Large surface area is folded so it can be placed into the limited volume of the skull  4 lobes 28 ¨ h  4 lobes 29 ¨ h  4 lobes 30 ¨ h  Somatosensory Cortex 31  Somatosensory Cortex 32 ¨ If a body area is more sensitive, a larger part of the somatosensory cortex is devoted to it  Somatosensory Cortex 33 ¨ If a body area is more sensitive, a larger part of the somatosensory cortex is devoted to it  4 lobes 34 ¨ h  Brain Development 35 ¨ Prefrontal cortex develops last ¤ Not fully developed until 20-25 years of age  4 lobes 36 ¨ h  Motor Cortex 37  Motor Cortex 38 ¨ Cortical representations of information are weighted by “importance”  Transcranial magnetic 39 stimulation (TMS) ¨ Strong magnets are used to briefly interrupt normal brain activity as a way to study brain regions ¤ Used for: n Direct testing of function- like upcoming video n Treatment for some neurological & psychological conditions  TMS Disrupts Motor Movements 40  Language in the Brain 41 ¨ Broca’s area –language production Broca’s Aphasia 42  Language in the Brain 43 ¨ Wernicke’s area –speech comprehension Case Study: Aphasia 44  Case Study: Aphasia 45 Aphasiaà The loss of ability to use or understand speech/language UCLA Connection Idan Blank Cognitive Neuroscientist Department of Psychology, UCLA 46  Brain Plasticity 47  Cerebral Cortex 48 ¨ The 2 cerebral hemispheres connected by the corpus callosum  Right-brained or Left-brained? 49 ¨ Are “Left-brained people are more logical & right- brained people are more creative.”?  There is some lateralization of 50 brain function… ¨ Largely symmetric, but there is some “lateralization” ¨ Contralateral organization: Left hemisphere controls right side of body, and vice versa ¨ Typically, the hemispheres are connected!  Splitting the Brain 51 ¨ Split brain: the corpus callosum is cut in surgery  Split Brain Studies 52 Split Brain Studies  Split Brain Patients 53  Split Brain Patients 54  Outline for Biological Psychology 55 ¨ The mind/body problem ¨ The structure and function of the brain ¨ Neurons ¤ Anatomy of the neuron ¤ How do neurons ‘send’ and ‘receive’ messages?  Neurons 56 Santiago Ramon y Cajal  Neurons 57 ¨ Neuron: a cell that specializes in receiving and transmitting information  Parts of a Neuron 58 ¨ Cell body: coordinates information-processing tasks and keeps cell alive ¨ Dendrites: receive information from other neurons and relays it to the cell body  Parts of a Neuron 59 ¨ Axon: long slender projection that conducts electrical impulses away from the cell body ¨ Synapse: the region between the axon of one neuron and the dendrite (or cell body) of another  Myelin Sheath 60 ¨ Myelin sheath – fatty sheath that insulates axons resulting in increased speed of and efficiency of neural communication ¤ Formed by glial cells ¤ Works like “wire insulation”  Myelin Sheath 61 ¨ What happens when myelin is damaged? ¤ E.g., Multiple sclerosis  How do neurons “send” and 62 “receive” messages 2 parts to the process: ¨ Action potential ¨ Transmission across the synapse  Hodgkin & Huxley (1952) 63 ¨ Studied neural impulses using squid axons 64  How do neurons “send” and 65 “receive” messages 2 parts to the process: ¨ Action potential ¨ Transmission across the synapse  Action Potential 66 ¨ h  Resting Potential 67 ¨ When a neuron is at rest: ¤ Outside “+” charged [Na+, Cl-] ¤ Inside “-” charged [K+, A-] ¤ Resting Potential = -70mV  What happens when the axon is 68 stimulated? ¨ Depolarization: When stimulated sodium channels open and + ions rush in  Action Potential 69 ¨ Repolarizationà After the sodium gates close – potassium [K+] moves out  Action Potential 70 ¨ h  Action Potential 71 ¨ Action potential: an electrical signal that is conducted along the length of a neuron’s axon to a synapse ¤ is an ALL-OR-NONE phenomena  Action Potential 72 ¨ Action potential: an electrical signal that is conducted along the length of a neuron’s axon to a synapse ¤ is an ALL-OR-NONE phenomena  How do neurons “send” and 73 “receive” messages 2 parts to the process: ¨ Action potential ¨ Transmission across the synapse  Synaptic Cleft 74 ¨ When the action potential reaches the terminal buttons, it causes the release of neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft  Neurotransmitters 75 ¨ Neurotransmitters can be excitatory or inhibitory ¤ Excitatory à increase the likelihood of an action potential (by causing the membrane potential to be less negative) ¤ Inhibitory à decrease the likelihood of an action potential (by causing the membrane potential to be more negative)  Summation of Postsynaptic 76 potentials  Summation of postsynaptic 77 potentials ¨ If the neuron is pushed past firing threshold (- 55mv) then the neuron will initial an action potential  Summary 78 2 parts to the process: ¨ Action potential = “all-or-none” ¨ Transmission across the synapse = “graded”  How do we experience strong or 79 weak sensations? ¨ Strength is determined by: ¤ RATEof firing ¤ NUMBER of neurons stimulated  Neurotransmitters 80 ¨ Binding of neurotransmitters to receptors is specific ¤ Lock and key  Neurotransmitters - Examples 81 ¨ Acetylcholine (Ach)à involved in a number of functions including voluntary motor control ¨ Dopamine à regulates motor behavior, motivation, pleasure and emotional arousal ¤ degeneration of these neurons in a particular part of brain linked to Parkinson’s Disease ¨ Serotonin à involved in regulating sleep and wakefulness and eating behavior  Neurotransmitters 82 ¨ Agonist à drug that increases the action of a neurotransmitter ¤ Dopamine agonists and Parkinson’s disease ¨ Antagonistà drugs that diminishes the function of a neurotransmitter  Neurotransmitters 83 ¨ Botox or Botulinum toxin is an Ach antagonist  Neurotransmitters 84 ¨ Botox or Botulinum toxin is an Ach antagonist  How do we study the brain? 85 ¨ MRI (Magnetic resonance imaging): ¤ uses a powerful magnetic field to produce high-quality images of the brain and its structure ¨ fMRI (Functional magnetic resonance imaging): ¤ used to examine changes in ongoing brain activity by measuring changes in the blood’s oxygen levels ¤ great for determining location (i.e., good spatial resolution); not so great at determining timing (i.e., bad temporal)  How do we study the brain? 86 ¨ Electroencephalography (EEG) ¤ EEG can record electrical activity from large populations of simultaneously active neurons at the scalp with millisecond resolution. ¤ EEG is a direct measure of neural activity. ¤ EEG has good temporal resolution but poor spatial resolution